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BIO Health Caucus 2019
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Rich Bendis is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, angel investor, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker and consultant in the technology and healthcare industries. He also serves as the founding President and CEO of Innovation America, a national public-private partnership focused on accelerating the growth of innovation economy in America; also the founding Chairman of The Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation; founder and CEO of Innovation Philadelphia; and asked to serve as the Co-Chairman of the AURP BioHealth Caucus. As a recognized expert in the field of the innovation economy, Rich has served on numerous distinguished boards and task forces including the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership Advisory Task Force, the Small Business Innovation Research Committee, the National Association of State Venture Funds Board; State Science and Technology Institute and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial Institute as a National/Regional Judge and Entrepreneur of the Year winner. Rich has provided global consulting services to over 16 countries and 22 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations including the United Nations, NATO, UK Trade and Industry, European Commission, French Embassy, the German Marshall Fund, The Canadian Consulate, METI, AKEA, the International Science Parks and Innovation Expert Group and other global entities. Rich serves on Governor Hogan's Life Science Advisory Board. He was voted one of the Top 5 Speakers on innovation and creativity, voted 4th best Innovation Blogger, a 2017 most influential Marylander award and a 2017 Maryland innovator of the year award, in addition to hosting the BioTalk podcast series. |
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Christian Braemer, Founder and CEO, Benefunder Founded in 2013, serial entrepreneur Christian Braemer, is the founder and CEO of Benefunder, an online marketplace bringing together philanthropists and researchers; serving as a marketplace, attracting new money, lowering costs, and increasing transparency. Benefunder works with wealth management firms, to connect donors with leading researchers across the nation to fill the innovation gap. Through its Charitable Innovation Fund, Benefunder combines the disciplines of wealth management with philanthropic giving for the benefit of innovation across all fields of study. Last year, individuals accounted for roughly $240 billion in charitable giving and less than 3% was allocated to research. Benefunder believes this represents the single largest opportunity to significantly increase research funding in the United States. Benefunder has already aligned with more than 200 researchers from top universities, such as Prior to Benefunder, Christian founded Joe Media, a national free wifi network that later merged with another founded organization, OpenEye Global. OpenEye Global hosted a team of experienced visual designers, media strategists and technologists that developed award winning solutions for some of the world’s leading brands. Christian’s earlier experience included additional founded organizations, a former financial advisor with both Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, and sergeant of the Danish Army. |
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Olivia Byrne, JD, Partner, K&L Gates LLP Olivia Byrne is a partner in the K&L Gates Washington D.C. office and a member of the firm’s real estate investment, development, and finance group. |
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Demian Costa, Partner, Weller Development Company Demian Costa is a Partner at Weller Development Company, the lead developer for the Port Covington project in Baltimore City. As a Partner with Weller Development, Demian focuses on raising capital, leasing, and new business creation. Additionally, Demian serves as the Managing Director of Sagamore Ventures, the private investment subsidiary of Plank Industries. Demian began his career int he military. He is a veteran having served 12 years as a US Navy SEAL. Following his military career, Demian co-founded FX Studios, focused on building virtual and on-premise employee wellness programs globally. Additionally, Demian co-founded Sagamore Ventures, focusing on double bottom-line investments that drive positive economic impact in urban areas. He is currently focused on innovation and economic growth in Baltimore City and beyond. Demian holds an undergraduate degree in finance and an MBA from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. |
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Brian Darmody, JD, CEO, Association of University Research Parks (AURP) Brian Darmody was announced as AURP CEO in February 2019 and in this new role Brian will lead AURP into new initiatives including expanding membership, international partnerships and funding in order to build out additional member benefits. Over the course of the year, Brian will be winding down his activities at UMD where he currently serves as Associate Vice President (AVP) of Corporate Engagement at the University of Maryland (UMD). At UMD, Brian is responsible for developing the overall university strategy for corporate relationships, as well as the development of projects and policies to support these initiatives centrally and through the colleges and schools on campus of the University of Maryland. Previously, he was the University’s AVP for Corporate and Foundation Relations in the Division of University Relations, AVP for Research and Economic Development, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Technology Development, Director of State and Federal Relations in the President’s Office and has served in the university’s legal counsel office. He serves on national and state boards, including: Fraunhofer USA, the Maryland Economic Development Association, and the Maryland Tech Council. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore and he received his bachelor degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. |
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Chad Gobel, CEO & Founder, Gobel Group & Futurus Group Chad is a twenty-year veteran of institutional advancement programs, having played leading roles in billion-dollar medical center campaigns at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Rochester Medical Center. In 2011, Chad founded Gobel Group with one employee and one client. Today, Gobel Group has grown to 30 employees and actively works with more than 315 clients around the world. Gobel Group has become the leading philanthropy consulting firm working exclusively in healthcare and the experts in building a grateful patient and family philanthropy program with engaged clinicians. In 2019, Chad launched Futurus Group, a technology company headquartered in Irvine, CA, to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to help healthcare organizations increase philanthropic support. Futurus’ first product, G2G, or short for “Gratitude to Give,” has proven to be more than four times as effective as traditional predict models on giving. Chad received his MBA from Ohio State University and his undergraduate degree from Towson University. He has served in leadership roles as Associate Chairman of Development at the Cleveland Clinic, Chief Development Officer at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Assistant Dean for External Affairs at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry, and Executive Director of Development at the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs. He’s a frequent speaker at national conferences, served on the faculty of the AHP Madison Institute for ten years, and has published the widely-circulated book, “How to Become a Top Producer in Healthcare Philanthropy.” With his wife and three children, Chad is an active advocate and donor for children and animal causes in his community. He serves as the Chair of the Development Committee, a member of the Executive Committee, and a Board Member for the Brandywine Valley SPCA and is an active donor and volunteer for the YMCA. |
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Tami Howie, JD, Partner, DLA Piper Tami Howie focuses her practice in the area of corporate law. She advises technology, life science and medical device companies in emerging growth and venture capital, private equity, securities offerings, venture capital, joint venture transactions and M&A matters. Prior to returning to DLA Piper, she was CEO of the Maryland Technology Council, the state's largest technology trade association supporting biotechnology and innovation in the state of Maryland. In this capacity, she was the lead voice in Annapolis helping to promote legislation to make Maryland the most innovative state in the country. She has worked to increase research and development, tax credits, investor tax credits and worked to prevent legislation that would make it harder to do business in Maryland. Over the past 20 years ,Tami has helped technology companies grow in the Mid-Atlantic region and nationwide from start up to public companies and beyond. Tami has been involved with the successful exits of over 150 companies and has represented technology companies, investors, SBICs and underwriters such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She has served on several organizational boards including most recently the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and as counsel in her early career for the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association. In addition, she has served the tech community by participating as a speaker, committee chair or legal advisor for both the DC Tech Council and Tech Counsel of Maryland. Tami has been named one of America's Top Lawyers and has received the Young Gun Award from the Washington Business Journal. |
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Katherine “Kate” Merton, Head of JLABS @ NYC, Boston & JPOD @ Philadelphia As Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS in New York, Kate is responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, company onboarding, portfolio management, operational excellence, educational programming and P&L. She catalyzes and supports the translation of science and technology into valuable solutions for patients and consumers across the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and healthtech sectors. |
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Alex Philippidis, Senior News Editor, GEN / Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News Alex specializes in biopharma business news and industry issues for GEN. He joined GEN in 2011 after four years at GenomeWeb, where he covered research institutes, and spent three years following biotech economic development as editor of the weekly newsletter BioRegion News. Alex reports a variety of news stories for GEN and Clinical OMICs and compiles the popular A-Lists series. Alex previously worked for more than 20 years for various newspapers covering business, science, the Navy, and general-interest news. He has been interviewed and quoted by news outlets including the New York Times and the BBC. He enjoys solving crossword puzzles, watching classic TV game shows, and traveling with his family. |
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Mark Romney, Chief Strategy Officer, Aggie Square – University of California, Davis Mark Romney joined the University of California, Davis in 1991 and currently serves as the Director of Research Development & Industry Alliances for UC Davis Health (comprised of the Medical Center, School of Medicine and School of Nursing and Practice Management Board). Mark has over 27 years of leadership experience in higher education master planning, with an emphasis in research and industry planning and development initiatives. Mark is a highly sought after thought leader in the field of public, private and university partnerships. He is invited to share his expertise around the globe presenting at conferences. Mark also served as host and closing speaker at the U.S. Department of Commerce SelectUSA Advance Tour Event (2017) hosting scientific collaboration discussions and providing the keynote presentation of the proposed UC Davis Aggie Square to the U.S. Embassy, Beijing Commercial Services officers and a delegation of senior representatives from over 25 Chinese life sciences, real estate development and real estate investment companies. The SelectUSA Investment Summit is the highest-profile event dedicated to promoting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the United States, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commercial Services Division. Mark has successfully attracted significant resources to key initiatives of UC Davis. Most recently, Mark has coauthored multiple State and Federal construction grants (NIH-C06 and CIRM) providing the University with over $30,000,000 in extramural funding for the renovation of existing buildings and development of new state of the art research facilities. Mark’s passion and proficiency in facilitating collaborations between industry and academia resulted in the adsorption of all eligible industry partner space on the Sacramento Campus (over 50,000 square feet). His efforts motivated UC Davis Health Leadership to launch the new research park planning and development effort, known as Aggie Square, which has already garnered national attention for the University and Sacramento. What began as a UC Davis Health initiative was transformed into a UC Davis wide initiative through the vision of the then new UC Davis Chancellor, Gary May, who envisioned creating a similar environment to Georgia Tech’s Technology Square in Atlanta of which he was involved with while Dean of the Engineering School. Chancellor May encouraged Mark to engage with leadership throughout the University in the effort to identify colleges and schools on the Davis Campus that would benefit from joining Aggie Square. Through Mark’s efforts, Aggie Square has grown to over 2,500,000 square feet, has garnered endorsement and collocation interests by the other schools and colleges on the Davis Campus, many midsize and Fortune 500 companies (both domestic and international), as well as endorsement and $2,800,000 in financial support from the Mayor and City Council of Sacramento, the State of California Legislature, and the US Congressional Representatives. |
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Stephen Susalka, PhD, CLP, RTTP, CEO, AUTM |
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Stephen Zarrilli, President and CEO, The University City Science Center Founded in 1963, the Science Center is the oldest and largest urban research park in the United States, serving as a dynamic hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and technology/ life science development in the Greater Philadelphia region. The Science Center provides lab and office space for start-up, growing and established companies. It also offers business incubation, support services and programming for entrepreneurs and start-up companies. |
Rich Bendis, Founder, President and CEO, BioHealth Innovation, Inc.
